California state prisons classify thousands of books from Black & Latinx authors as "contraband." This censorship enforces an information erasure that isolates incarcerated individuals. Operating at the intersection of art and civic policy, The Unread transforms visual art into a tool for public education and activation to dismantle this erasure. Community members will enter an immersive gallery where 30 original pieces of art will be unveiled, prompting attendees to engage with the texts and spark critical inquiry and inspiring participants to wonder why books are banned and how to change it.
The Unread: A Call for Artists
IAC is using art to demonstrate the essence of the books labeled by the California prison system as "contraband." When we harness the power of art and culture, we are able to transform apathy into empathy and move to advocacy. If we have the courage to utilize culture as infrastructure, then we move a step closer towards remembering our common humanity.
Interested artists are asked to read one of 30 banned books and to create an original work of art that translates the historical and cultural values of the censored texts. The works will be unveiled during "The Unread: A Banned Books Civic Salon" on October 4, 2026. The Exhibition is mean to challenge and provoke viewers to ponder, “Why was this book banned?” The Exhibition will also serve to guide the conversation of which 5 books from this exhibit should we work to have removed from the list.
Artists can register HERE.
Banned Books to Inspire the The Unread Art Exhibition
Meet Our Panelists
Shaka Senghor is a bestselling author, mentor, and criminal justice reform advocate who spent 19 years in prison, including seven in solitary confinement, where he discovered writing as a lifeline. His memoir Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison became a New York Times bestseller, and he has since written several more books exploring transformation and second chances. A former MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow, Senghor has spent his career helping incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people access the books, education, and mentorship that changed his own life — work he continues through initiatives like the Shaka Senghor Literary Lounge, which brings literacy programming to youth in Detroit.
Fulton Leroy Washington ("Mr. Wash") is a self-taught painter who discovered his art while serving 21 years in prison on a nonviolent drug conviction he always maintained was unjust. Behind bars, he taught himself oil and acrylic painting, creating photorealistic portraits of fellow incarcerated men that captured their humanity and inner lives. One of those paintings, envisioning his own clemency, proved prophetic — in 2016, President Obama commuted his sentence. Since his release, Mr. Wash has exhibited at institutions including the Hammer Museum and The Huntington, and now runs a studio and community arts space in Compton dedicated to giving formerly incarcerated people and artists of color a second chance to grow and be seen.